Blue Vervain Sally Face
by Sock.Corgi
Summary: (Sal Fisher x Larry Johnson) Where Sal is a witch and Larry fucking hates Harry Potter. Started: Valentines Day, 2019 Completed: -
1. Crystal Necklaces

Larry swore his best friend was some sort of witch.

Because he couldn't think of any other explanation as to why he can drink half a slushee all at once and not have crippling brain freeze. Larry could barely take two sips before having to stop and press his tongue to the roof of his mouth in hopes of relieving the pain.

"How are you not dead, bro?" He exclaimed, grabbing at his forehead as the uncomfortable feeling seemed to spread through his brain.

"I'm simply not a fucking wimp, my man." The blue haired teen shoved the straw underneath the bottom of his prosthetic again, drinking another large portion of the electric blue beverage.

"I'm not a wimp you're just a mutant." Larry joked, sipping some more of his cola flavoured slushee, he didn't enjoy the fruit flavoured ones, he thought they were too artificial.

The two sat on the curb outside of the convenience store with all the junk food they'd bought inside, the summer sun beating down on them as it slowly made its descent behind the distant trees, casting long shadows over the town and turning the sky a pleasant orangish colour.

Sal wore a crown of slightly wilted flowers, their stems tied together tightly and petals drooping, barely clinging on, the brunette couldn't remember what he had been told about the flowers in the crown, but he didn't care, his friend looked nice with whatever weird thing he decided to wear.

Larry reached into the bag between his feet, rustling around in them before pulling out the very giggle-inducing snack known as the 'beef stick.' It was an appropriate name for a ridiculous product and damn did Larry love them. They were cheap, came in like at least five different flavours, and satisfied the brunettes love for meat.

Sal crinkled what remained of his nose behind the prosthetic as the snack was opened, bringing a hand up to cover the holes in his prosthetic meant for breathing. "Dude, I can smell that shit from here, it's disgusting."

"Correction, tofu is disgusting! This is one of the best things for under five dollars." The brunette took a bite of his snack, shoving it closer to Sal just to annoy his friend.

"It smells like... dead." Sal shoved the thing away, glaring half-heartedly. "I'll never understand you."

"I could say the same to you, I swear you eat fucking flowers."

"At least I'm not eating a fucking dick innuendo."

"Jokes on you, I fucking love dick." Larry raised his eyebrows in a sort of joking manner, keeping eye contact with his friend as he took another bite.

Sal just shook his head, flower petals dropping from the dying crown, finishing his frozen drink packed full of artificial colour blue #1. There were a few moments of silence as the blue-haired teen tried and failed to toss the empty cup in a nearby trash can and ultimately had to get up and drop it in properly.

Larry didn't bother putting his trash in the proper place, he simply shoved it back into one of the bags with the other snacks, much to Sal's annoyance. They sat there for a while longer until Larry had finished his drink and Sal had had a lollipop long enough for it to become sharp and somewhat dangerous around the edges.

Just as they were about to leave, the shorter of the two grabbed Larry's arm to stop him, an unseen smile plastered on his face. "I've got something for you!"

"Why, it's not my birthday or anything?" There was never a reason with Sal, random gifts were just something to be expected with him, but that didn't stop Larry from saying the same line every time unless it was actually his birthday.

The bluenette pulled something out of his pocket, clasping it in his hands. "Close your eyes."

"Ugh, dude!"

"Just close 'em!" Larry could see the pout in his friend's eyes, he'd gotten pretty good and reading Sal's emotions without seeing his face. With another exaggerated groan, he tightly shut his eyes.

He heard movement and felt something cold on his neck, along with a very minimal amount of weight, he could very easily guess what the gift was.

"Okay, you can look." The brunette glanced down and sure enough, a necklace now dangled from his neck. The chain was rose gold and pretty thin, attached to it was a small shard looking piece of what Larry assumed was quartz. The crystal itself was smoothed on one side, with small unrecognizable symbols carved into it. "You've gotta wear it all the time, okay? I made it for you."

"Whatever you say, little dude." He knew his friend was weird about things like crystals like he was weird about flowers. He himself would never believe a dried leaf or old lava held any sort of power but Sal was his best friend, so if he wanted to burn his weird herbs in Larry's room or make him a crystal necklace, he wasn't gonna stop him. If anyone else tried to tell him the importance burning sage he'd probably laugh at them, but not with Sal. He'd listen and nod and just be happy with his presence.

The truth is, for a while now, Larry has felt more of a need to be around Sal. Not just to be around him but to be alone with him, whenever they shared moments just between the two of them it made Larry's heart race a little. Sometimes it'd feel like he could think of nothing else than hugging his friend or holding his hand, or cuddling, or even calming him down after a nightmare. He felt selfish, for sometimes wishing for Sal to have a nightmare, just so the other would come down. He also felt selfish for getting jealous when Sal was around other people, like some of the girls in school who treated him like some mysterious bad boy, but he really couldn't help it.

He didn't exactly know why he felt like this, he only assumed it was because of how close his friendship with Sal was, mixed with his normal protective behaviour.

He could tell Sal was smiling at him, by the shine in the other's eyes and he could help the grin that spread across his own face.

"Come one, bro, we don't wanna be out here in the dark." Larry put an arm around Sal's shoulders, pulling him close to his side as he lead them off in the direction of the apartments.


	2. Enchantments

Sal wasn't going to tell his friend the necklace was enchanted.

He never does, Larry wouldn't exactly believe him if he tried to anyway. The crystals or herbs only ever work how people think when a witch has enchanted them. Sal just hoped Larry would continue wearing the necklace like he had asked.

Lately he had been feeling quite unsettled, more than usual. He's been pretty frantic and jumpy, getting less and less sleep each night. Slowly he'd become more paranoid the longer this unsettling feeling remained, his nightmares were worse and he was sure he was seeing things during the day now, so he resorted to protecting his friends as a way to calm down. He didn't care much about himself, even if he could use an enchantment to protect his own life, he'd rather use his energy to keep other people protected, specifically Larry.

They spent most of their time together and Sal was sure that was putting the brunette into danger in some way, but he couldn't just drop his friend suddenly even if he had good intentions. The nightmares, though often blurry and hard to remember, always involved death and Larry was almost always in them.

"I've got another date tonight." Larry's words snapped Sal out of his thoughts and he raised an unseen eyebrow at his friend.

"With Sophie?"

"Nah, Riley. Me and Sophie lasted like 2 days, dude." Sal just rolled his eyes are his friend, turning down the path that lead to the apartments.

"Sorry I can't keep up with all your romantic endeavors. You're with a different girl, like, every other night." He couldn't help the pang of jealousy as he spoke, the words sounding a bit harsher than he had intended.

"Jeez, dude, it's not that bad. I just feel bad turning down most girls when they ask me out because I don't really know them." The brunette crossed his arms with a fake pout. "How am I supposed to know beforehand that I don't like them?"

"All I'm saying is you're gonna get a bad reputation if you keep doing that."

"It's not like I make out with them or anything before I break it off, I don't even kiss most of them and if I do it's because the chick made the move." The two made their way to the rear of the building, entering Larry's room from the back door. "Half the time I try to be annoying enough that they call it off with me."

Larry fell back onto a bean bag while Sal jumped into the brunettes bed, spread out so his finger's touched each edge of the bed. The buckle of the prosthetic dug into the back of his head but he didn't mind, he was too focused on his current untamed emotions. He didn't like Larry going on all these dates, he had no reason, he just didn't like it. It caused what he could only describe as a stabbing feeling in his heart, or maybe like someone had taken a grip on his internal organs. It was stupid, he knew, he couldn't even explain in, but the feeling remained nonetheless.

"How about you just, like, only go out with people you actually like beforehand?" Who did Larry actually like? Sal wasn't exactly sure, the brunette didn't seem to be particularly fond of any girls other than Ash, but they were more like siblings. Maybe Maple? They were closer than Larry typically was with girls at the school but he didn't seem to really fancy her. "You can't force feelings."

Sal could tell Larry was staring at him, but didn't bother to meet his friend's gaze as it didn't really seem like he was trying to make eye contact. "Well it's too late for that, now, are you gonna help me get ready or not?"

Sal sighed over dramatically, throwing his hands up with his loud noise, trying to make it as annoying as humanly possible. "Fiiine!"

Many insults and a load of laundry later, Larry stood in a freshly cleaned band shirt, still warm from the dryer. He wore a simple pair of dark jeans, so it wasn't much different than his normal attire, but he was cleaner looking.

Sal sat on his knees behind him, one of those 'no tears' hair brushes clutched tightly in his grip, pulling it through his friend's long hair.

"Ow, fuck!" Sal ripped through another tangle in Larry's hair and the brunette tensed, reaching a hand up to rub his scalp. "Be gentle."

"Be a man!" Sal retorted, roughly pulling the brush through brown hair again, now finally able to brush fully through without encountering and tangles. "Maybe if you did this everyday, you wouldn't be in so much pain!"

"Don't act like you brush through your hair every day." Larry snorted, looking over his shoulder at his friend's frizzy pigtails.

"I do! Twice a day, in the morning and before bed! My hair's just curly and a mess. Your hair should be really nice and smooth and straight but you don't take care of it, honestly you should just cut it off." He wasn't being series, he liked his friends hair, but he did think if he was going to keep it long he should at least try with it. Larry obviously didn't see it as joking and his hands shot up to grab at his dark hair.

"Fuck no! I've been growing it out for so long, I haven't been to a proper hair place is years."

"Hair place?" Sal laughed. "You mean a barber?"

"Don't laugh at me, fuck-face!" Larry spun so he was now facing the brunette, both seated on the carpet.

Sal mock gasped, bringing a hand to his chest. "Offensive! No one in their right mind would fuck this face."

Larry's first thought was to reply 'I would,' and he almost said it, but that was weird. Instead he just shook his head, standing a bit too quickly and almost loosing his balance. "Well, I better get going."

"But I thought I was gonna do something with your hair." The bluenette pouted behind his prosthetic, not moving from the floor.

"We don't have time, you took too long brushing it." Larry made his way to the door to his room, grabbing some things on the way. When he'd reached the door he turned around with a hand on the door handle. Sal had fallen back and sprawled out on the carpet, his knees still bent like he was going to exercise. "You gonna stay here until I get back? It'll be like two hours."

"Yeah, I'm gonna chill with Lisa until you're done breaking this girl's heart."

Larry just rolled his eyes in response, leaving Sal in silence, laying on the stained carpet.


	3. Chocolate Lipstick

Larry couldn't take it anymore. As soon as the girl was no longer in view, Larry pulled out his phone, so quick that he almost whipped it across the diner, but luckily he kept his grip. He opened to his most used contact and wasted no time in typing out the message.

To: Sally Face 3

Dude, I need your help to get out of this, call me in like 1 min, I'll explain later just call so I have a reason to leave early.

[Sent 8:49 PM]

He stared at the hunk of technology for a few more seconds, not necessarily expecting a quick reply but hopeful nonetheless, before ultimately shoving his phone deep in his pocket and acting like he'd never pulled it out.

The girl, Riley, soon returned, taking her seat opposite Larry, who couldn't help but notice her chocolate coloured lipstick looked to have been reapplied. She's overthinking this. She was pretty, with freckles littering her tan cheeks and perfect dark curls resting on her shoulders, but definitely not Larry's type. What was his type? Well, he didn't exactly know, but he had always ended up comparing every girl to a certain blue haired weirdo who never seemed to leave his thoughts.

If the girl wore her hair up, he'd always think of how Sal would look better with that hairstyle then she did. Whenever a girl laughed he would think of how annoying it was compared to how Sal laughed. Even if girls smiled, he was comparing it to the smile behind the mask that he had never seen. His thoughts were all Sally, Sal, Sally Face, Sal.

In his mind, Sal was perfect, someone he constantly wanted to be around. He hadn't met anyone, let alone a girl, half as interesting or perfect as Sally was, so he was single until he did.

"As I was saying, she's just kinda... off putting? I don't know, I feel judge-y, but I think I'm allowed to because she seems pretty bad, from what I've heard. Just weird and freaky... Sometimes I think she's just gonna curse me or something, someday." Riley had a goofy(annoying) grin, reaching over to grab a fry from Larry's plate. She could've just ordered her own fries, instead she ordered a stupid small salad from a burger place.

Larry clenched his fist under the table, bouncing his leg to help his attempts to play nice for now. "You keep saying she—"

The stupid chimed ring tone rang out and Larry smiled in relief. He was quick to pull out his phone, giving a half hearted 'gotta take this' before flipping the thing open and putting it to his ear.

"Larry." He hated how bad the phone call made his friend's voice sound and he wished he were there across from him, to replace the bitch with the chocolate lipstick. The thought only made him want to image what Sal would look like wearing the same lipstick, even if he never would, which lead to Larry imagining his friend's face. He figured Sal would look better in the lipstick then Riley did.

"Hey, Sally Face." The brunette really exaggerated the name as he made eye contact with Riley, who quickly stiffened, eyes wide. "What's up?" He let a smile creep on his face when he turned away, staring at some of the old art on the wall, some stupid paintings that looked like Gizmo had walked over a canvas.

"Okay so something actually happened and I wasn't gonna call because I didn't want to disrupt your date but I'm kinda panicking and when you said to call I was so relieved I'm all shakey and I really—"

"Woah, woah, slow down, are you okay? I'll be right there, are you still in my room?" Larry wasted no time jumping up, dropping some money on the table and grabbing his jacket.

"N-no, treehouse."

"I'm on my way, okay?" He didn't bother to say goodbye to his date, not even sparing a glance at her or that chocolate lipstick, just rushing out of the diner to his car.

"Be careful, okay? Please be careful."

"I'll be fine, why wouldn't I be? Are you safe?"

"I-I'm okay here, just scared right now." The boy's voice shook and Larry could swear he heard a quiet yelp through the phone.

"I'm driving now, I'll be right there." He hung up before driving off towards the apartments, drumming his fingers impatiently as he drove just above the speed limit, not wanting to go too fast and be pulled over, again. Everything was dead silent in the car, the radio had been busted for weeks.

He cursed himself for deciding on a diner out of town as his mind raced with possibilities of what could be wrong, Sal never mentioned anything specific. He couldn't recall if it had sounded like the other was crying through the phone, but liked to think he hadn't been and was fine.

Luckily, there weren't many cars on the road and Larry was in the apartment parking lot quicker than expected. The sky was dark and littered with stars, the horizon no longer painted with warm colours like it was when he first entered the diner. The warm summer air remained, but it was almost choking as the brunette hurried to his treehouse, leaving his car on with the doors unlocked, without even a thought to hope it wouldn't be stolen.

The treehouse was like a looming shadow against the sky, seemingly devoid of light. Larry wouldn't have thought anyone occupied the wooden structure if he hadn't been told.

He was climbing up the side of the tree before he even registered that he had reached it, the old splintering wood pressing roughly against his fingers like always. He was climbing mostly blind under the shadow of night, grasping where he knew the next hold was and pulling himself up.

When he finally made it up and pushed the hatch open, he heard a yelp from the corner of the room and quickly pulled himself into the wooden structure. "It's me, Sal." He didn't know why he was whispering, it just felt appropriate. He reached for a lantern in the corner, turning it on, which received another quiet yelp from his friend.

"H-hey, Lar." Sal was sitting in a corner, his knees pulled to his chest and his face hidden in them. His hands were held up next to his head and shaking slightly and Larry assumed he was either covering his ears or pulling on his hair, which fell messily over his face. The prosthetic sat in front of him, brandishing a new crack and a snapped strap. It wasn't the first time the thing had broke, but Sal would usually just lock himself in his own room until it was fixed, not go to the treehouse, so Larry was fairly confused.

"Hey. What's wrong, dude?" Larry sat crosslegged in front of his friend, picking up the prosthetic and assessing the damage, it didn't seem that bad. He avoided looking up, not wanting to accidentally see Sal's face when he didn't want him to, he'd gotten good and crushing his curiosity.

"Dog."

"A dog?" In his slight shock, he couldn't help but look up and raise an eyebrow. Sal still had his face behind his knees, hunched over in what looked like a very uncomfortable way to keep the position. Blue eyes were barely seen, looking red and glossy.

"Yeah, it was barking, how did you not hear it? Or see it, it had to be at the bottom of the tree." The blue haired teen seemed to regain his composure slightly, pulling his shirt up to just under his eyes and shaking hair into his face so he could sit up. Chocolate lipstick was brought back to mind when they sat across from each other like this.

The pulled up shirt exposed a bit of his pale stomach and Larry's eyes absentmindedly lowered. He looked skinny. Of course he took notice of the forming bruise on stark skin but chose not to mention it.

"There was no sign of a dog, dude. No barking at all." Concern laced itself into his words as it always did, bringing a more noticeable frown to the bluenette's face

"That can't be true, it was barking just now, until you turned the light on." Wrapping his arms around his knees once more, the boy more exposed the blood on his hands, which Larry wasn't as hesitant to point out. Instantly, he panicked, grabbing the other's hand and inspecting his palm. Dry blood spread across his pale skin, coming from scrapes on the heel of his hand and up his fingers.

"What happened?"

"I fell, it chased me..."

"What chased you?"

"The dog."

"Sal, there was no dog."

"Yes, there was, it was barking just now!"

"Then why didn't I hear it? Or see it, for that matter?" A type of anger was in his words, like frustration, but not exactly at his friend. Anger was one of the main emotions Larry kept lent up, so it likes to seep it's way out into his words when ever it could, like an overflowing jar. He couldn't help it, really. Well, he could but he wasn't willingly to, so he just had to deal with being a nuisance.

"Stop being so loud, Larry!" He covered his ears with his bloodied hands, resting his forehead on his knees, his shirt pulling away from his face with the action.

"Fuck, dude, I'm sorry." He lowered his voice and repositioned himself to put a bit more space between them, just a bit, and slouching so he didn't look as big and 'intimidating.' Sal's response to this was to scoot forward and lean against his friend, hiding his face in the brunette's shoulder. "I thought you were gonna hang with my mom?"

"Lisa went to make dinner and I didn't wanna be in the way so I was gonna go for a walk for a little while." Strained words were muffled by the fabric of Larry's jacket, almost so much that the brunette couldn't hear them. "I was in the woods and there was a bark and I saw a dog, it's eyes were red... I ran and fell, that's how the prosthetic broke. I ended up in the treehouse and it kept barking until the light turned on... You must've scared it away..."

"Sal... have you been taking your pills?" Hesitantly, phe spoke, he knew this was a more touchy subject. Medication was something they never really spoke about, unless they had reason to believe the other was skipping out on their personal dose of drugs.

"I'm not crazy, Larry!"

"I'm not saying you are, just," He interrupted himself with a short sigh, god he was sounding like some sappy dad right now. "They're there to help you, ya know."

A second of silence.

"Maybe the dog is just in your head again. I won't judge you... Do you really think the dog was real?"

Another second.

"I... It had to be."

Right now, Larry had the urge to grab his friends face and look into his eyes and smile and see him smile and ki— But he didn't, shaking away those chocolate lipstick thoughts. Instead he just sat with his arms awkwardly around his friend, staring at the broken prosthetic to avoid looking at Sal's face. "It's fine, it doesn't matter, you're okay, so it doesn't matter."

"It does matter, though. You think I'm crazy." Sal sighed, pulling away with his hair in his face.

"I don't. If anything was gonna make me think you were crazy it wouldn't be this. It happens with you sometimes, I get it."

"You shouldn't have to get it." He simply flopped back into Larry's chest, and though the brunette knew this was just so his friend could hide his face, he couldn't help the invasion of thoughts that suddenly clouded his mind at the touch. "What happened with the girl, Sophie?"

"Riley. She was just a bitch clad in chocolate lipstick. Wouldn't stop yapping and she cared way too much about the whole thing." He actually rolled his eyes at the thought, why had he ever agreed to the date, he had already known she was the type to bring a pen into the school bathrooms.

"I don't like chocolate lipstick." The smaller mumbled, producing a laugh from the lanky metal head.

"I think you just haven't seen it on the right person." Mind full of lipstick thoughts and cheap diner fries, Larry suddenly remembered he'd left the car running in the parking lot. "Fuck..."


	4. Parking Lots

Sal could almost laugh. "You're a fucking idiot!"

They stood in the empty parking lot, the old Cadillac predictably no where to be seen. Larry should have known that leaving his car unlocked with the keys in the ignition in the middle of their not-so-nice town wouldn't be a good idea. Cars get broken into all the time when they're locked, here, so this was just begging for it. That didn't mean it wasn't weird, maybe it was just Sal's current paranoia, but he couldn't help but think that this wasn't just because Larry was stupid.

"Oh god, mom's gonna kill me." The older grabbed at his hair, closing his eyes tightly before opening them as if the car would just appear in front of him. "I'm dead, I'm so dead." He spun around, looking off into the darkness of the night, no cars were on the road, that had to be really weird, right? It wasn't even 10 yet.

"No, your not, your mom's not gonna kill you." Sal walked over to place a not at all comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. One strap held the broken prosthetic to his mangled face, the bottom hanging uselessly on his shoulder, they'd have to fix it soon but for now it would have to be used like this.

"What do you mean? Of course she is!" Shadows fell dramatically on the boy's face and Sal couldn't help the thought of how attractive it made him look, but he shook the thought away. That was weird, surely. Well, only if he called it weird, there was nothing weird about finding your best friend attractive, right?

"She's not, because she's not going to find out." Sal rolled his eyes as if it was obvious, retracting his hand to rub his own arms, the chill of the night starting to break through the summer humidity.

"How's she not going to find out? Sal, the car is GONE!" The brunette threw his arms out as he shouted, getting a distant bark in reply, to which Sal flinched and Larry dropped his arms worriedly.

The bluenette shook off the fear, over dramatically sighing and letting his head fall back. "Because we're gonna find the stupid thing, you buffoon!" His footsteps echoed the empty area as he made his way back to the building, Larry being quick to follow.

"How exactly do you plan on finding it? There are at least 5 of the same model car around here and any smart person would be changing the plates." Sal felt the weight of the other's arm around his shoulder and could practically feel the other's stress radiating off of him. What would he tell Larry? 'Hey, I kinda charmed your car three months ago so I could find it because I knew you'd be stupid enough to lose it.' Nope, defiantly not.

"Well, first, I haven't keyed our names into every Cadillac in town. Second, I'm gonna find it because I'm determined, that's all I need." As soon as the apartment's front door was open, the two were blasted with air from the air conditioning, which smelt like death as always, but that was a scent the two were used to.

"Wait, you fucking keyed my baby?" A snort sounding noise from Sal, drowning out the noise of the elevator door's ding, and the shorter was more or less chocking on air as they entered the lift.

"Don't you dare call your car your baby again or I swear to the gods I'll go out and crash it." He was leaning against the wall when he spoke, Larry in a fit of laughter a foot away. They had to collect themselves as the lift dinged again, arriving at the fourth floor.

Of course Henry wasn't home when they strolled in, but a mess remained in his absence. A few dirty dishes in the sink and empty beer cans, crushed and seeming to have been flung in the general direction on the trash can, which resulted in crushed cans no where near the bin. Neither batted an eye at the mess, nor did they jump when an orange ball of fluff and fat jumped out to yowl at Larry as they passed on the way to Sal's room.

Stepping through the door way was like entering Narnia, as the bedroom was so drastically different than the rest of the apartment. For one, it smelt better, like flowers and dust, instead of beer and kitty litter. The walls were also a darker shade, despite Addison not allowing them to paint the walls anything other than the original colour. The bed was piled high with fluffy blankets and pillows, it was unmade but it looked better that way. Above the bed hung a few different dream catchers, some better than others, all made by Larry. A shelf held many jars and containers of dried herbs or other weird things, as well as skulls and such of various animals, which Larry avoided looking at. Everywhere a plant could be crammed, there was one, flowers to vines to cacti, anything he could keep alive in there. To contrast everything, there were band posters plastered all over, one wall being so covered in posters and magazine covers and print outs and polaroids that you almost couldn't see the bare wall. Sal had really made the room his own in the years since he'd moved in.

As always, Larry's eyes were drawn to the dark chest in the corner, covered by a cloth. Every time he came into the room, he tried to get Sal to open it for him. Sal, of course, never would. It held his more authentic witch-y stuff, the real spell casting business that he probably couldn't get away with just owning. It had a lock on it and Larry would always search around for the key, of course not realizing that it was opened with a spell and not a traditional key. "You gonna show me what's in it this time?"

Sal completely ignored his friend's question, as always. "We should get some rest before we tire ourselves out looking for that car." Sal said, stretching as if tired, even though his adrenaline was still pumping and paranoia too much for him to sleep at the moment. He really just need Larry distracted while he figured out where the car was.

Larry, being the constantly tired teenager he was, instantly flopped into the mountain of blankets that made up his friend's bed. He sighed in content with his face pressed into a soft feather pillow. "I hate your room but I fucking love your bed."

"That sounds pretty provocative, Larry." He skimmed through the items on his shelves, he'd never been good at organizing his things.

"Beds aren't just for sex." Sal just laughed, grabbing a small box from the bottom shelf. He pulled a small, flat stone from the box, rubbing his thumb over the smooth top of it before hopping over to the chest, which made Larry perk up. "You opening it?"

"Nope." He placed the stone on top of the chest, putting a random flower next to it and simply closing his eyes. He could tell Larry was staring at him, probably fairly confused, but he ignored it. He stayed like that for about a minute before standing abruptly. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Wait, what? What were you just doing?" Larry hesitantly stood, fairly confused.

"Nothing, we're gonna go get your car, hurry up!" He grabbed Larry's wrist, attempting to pull him out. Technically, he wasn't strong enough to do this, but Larry just let himself be dragged out. Sal knew exactly where the car was, but was willing to bet it wouldn't be there if they didn't hurry, considering they had to walk. He also couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't just some stranger that took the car.


	5. Jedi Mind Trick

Larry had absolutely no idea where they were going, but Sal sure did, which confused Larry to no end. All the boy did was stare at a rock for like a minute and then acted like he suddenly remembered he'd parked the car somewhere. They were basically sprinting down the cracked sidewalk, towards the more busy part of town. At the moment, Larry's mind was a jumble of questions, adrenaline, and lingering tired thoughts of chocolate lipstick.

"Sal, seriously, what the fuck? Did fucking god tell you where my car went or something?" The boy didn't slow his pace, and even though Larry could just stop and make his friend stop as well, because his pale hand was still tightly clutching the brunette's wrist, he just kept speed walking behind.

"Or something." They came to an abrupt stop, Larry almost knocking them both over. They were outside a bar, an older one that wasn't very good at checking ID's, or maybe they just didn't care about causing alcoholism in minors as long as they got money out of it. It was pretty packed, with many shouts and loud music heard from inside. "There it is." Sal pointed at a distant parking spot, and sure enough the hood of Larry's car was just visible behind an ugly green van.

"How the fuck, Sal?" He went to inspect the car, it was undoubtedly his, and he was absolutely baffled. How the fuck did Sal know, maybe it was a lucky guess? But he didn't even have to look, he just knew. He turned back towards his friend, only to find Sal was walking towards the entrance of the bar. "Sal!" He had to jog to catch up, despite having short legs Sal was fast, but he also seemed pretty determined at the moment, by the way he was just ignoring he best friend.

Larry lagged behind his friend when they entered the loud bar. Despite the noise, it wasn't that full, most people were around the bar or at tables in a heavily lit area, leaving the darker corners pretty empty, which is where Sal was headed. The boy froze suddenly, tensing up, staring at a dirty blonde that Larry didn't recognize sitting alone in the corner.

"Fuck!" The blunette cursed under his breath, looking as if he'd lost all the confidence he just had. Flashing a brief look at Larry, who was still very confused as to what was happening, he took a breath and walked up to the young man, who's eyes lit up a bit when Sal walked over.

"What a surpri—"

"Hand over the keys." Sal put his palms down on the table, leaning forward, to which this mystery man raised an eyebrow. Larry hung back a little, unsure of what to do.

The blonde clicked his tongue. "You know this is a bar, right sweetheart?"

"You know you're 18, right douchebag?" Sal mocked, gesturing to the blonde's drink. "Just give me the keys and I won't tell."

The man only laughed, shaking his head a bit. "Can't do that, hun." Sal only stared intently at the other, meeting his steady gaze which Larry found odd as Sal usually didn't like eye contact. "You're little tricks don't work on me, remember?"

"Fuck off."

"I'll make you a deal." His smirk was annoying, Larry hated it, it made him want to punch the unknown man. The brunette hated everything about this blonde, especially the way he talked to Sal. "I'll give you the keys, if you promise to call me again, babe." He pulled the recognizable keys out of his pocket, holding them out in front of him and Larry almost kicked him.

"I don't do that anymore, asshole." Sal grabbed the keys before the other could pull them away, which made the blonde roll his eyes nonchalantly.

"One picture and I don't tell you-know-who." The blonde tried one more time, but Sal just scoffed, grabbing Larry's wrist and pulling him out of the bar, which seemed to be when the blonde finally noticed the brunette teen's presence because he glared in a very annoying manner. It seemed like he had a weird protective look in his eyes that Larry certainly didn't like.

He didn't get much more time to examine the stranger as he was pulled away by Sal, who wasn't explaining himself and was still as rigid as when he first saw the man. They'd just about left the bar when they were stopped by a balding man that worked at the bar.

"What are you two doing here? Minor's aren't permitted!" There was an audible sigh from Sally, they must have the worst luck to be confronted by the only person in this bar who cared about their age. Fear made Larry's heart speed up, what would his mom think about getting a call in the middle the night because her seventeen year old son was in a bar? He didn't have to worry long though, because Sal spoke up, sounding more annoyed than scared.

"It's fine, move." His words were monotone, exasperated, and the man responded by simply stepping aside, moving along with a blank expression. Larry was baffled, what the fuck, was he going to go call the cops or some shit? Again, he didn't get answers, he was just pulled along to the car, getting into the drivers side incredibly confused.

There were many different questions he wanted to ask, so he just asked the biggest one burning in his head. "Who the fuck was that? Do you know him?"

"Yes— No! I don't." Sal slumped in the passenger side, putting his feet up on the dashboard with no seatbelt on, like he always did. "Okay, yeah. He doesn't matter though, I stopped talking to him after the whole ordeal last year." His newly broke prosthetic had slipped a little bit down his face, exposing a bit of his forehead through his bangs.

"So you had talked to him before... Why was he calling you all those pet names— a-and the thing about pictures, had you sent him pictures? What kind of pictures?" Adrenaline suddenly surged through him, his words spilling out faster than he could think them. Protectiveness was something he felt a lot, especially with Sal, but this was different and Larry couldn't explain why.

"Maybe I did but it doesn't matter." He pulled his feet down, his shoes knocking on the floor of the car as he sat up. The prosthetic slipped a bit more, obscuring Larry's view of those blue eyes.

"What kind of pictures? You said he was 18!" God, he wished he wasn't always so angry, it made him into an asshole, he was acting like some sort of overprotective parent.

"He turned 18 after I stopped talking to him, stop being angry with me, it's my life." It was his life, why did Larry care so much? And Sal clearly wasn't talking to him anymore, the stranger was only there when Sal wasn't rational, and the pills kept his friend rational. He shouldn't be reacting like this.

"You're 16, what kind of pictures were you sending?"

"And you're 17, not my dad, it doesn't matter anymore." Sal threw up his arms, slumping back into his seat.

They fell into silence, parked outside a bar, Sal staring out a window with an angry expression behind his prosthetic and Larry staring at his friend with his protective nature making him mad.

"Sal. Were you like... dating him? Are you gay?" Unexplainable butterflies erupted in Larry at the thought, he couldn't say why, though.

"I guess. I wouldn't call it dating." While still facing away, the boy reached up and removed the prosthetic completely which had been gradually slipping further off his face. "It really doesn't matter." His tone had changed, more empty than anything, tired maybe. All anger left Larry at that tone, he hated that tone. The brunette faced forward, starting up the car and pulling out of the parking lot in silence.

"I'm sorry for getting mad." All other questions about tonight's happenings that Larry had planned to ask left when Sal turned his head with a small smile that Larry could just see in the dim light, cursing that he had to keep his eyes on the road at the moment.

Sal turned away again when they reached a stop sign, putting the prosthetic on and tightening the remaining strap. "Sorry for being mysterious."


	6. Coven Messages

Sal stared at his phone, his room only lit by the low morning light from the crack in the curtain. Yes, it was early in the morning and yes, he had been up late the previous night. In all truth he hadn't slept at all, he'd just sat in silence until the sun came up, but that really didn't matter. He wasn't expecting a call, or a text, who would expect anything at 6 something in the morning. He'd been weighing his options about what to do, of course, he'd completely ruled out sending pictures of any kind, but he could try and persuade Kaylen by just talking(or, texting), the blonde was desperate for any sort of attention anyway, just like Sally had been. Maybe that's why they'd been drawn to each other, but it was different now.

It was bad enough being on the bad side of the local coven, even if it was small and unofficial, they could be dangerous. They were dangerous, some of them at least, as they had proven in the past. He didn't want them ticked off he'd ruined their little scheme so quickly. He wasn't sure what they'd expected, he could practically read minds, of course, he'd find the car and of course, he'd be able to persuade Kaylen to give him the keys. Even if the 'mind tricks' didn't work on the blonde, he was still a sucker for the blunette.

He was almost tempted to just let them do what they wanted, so he could prove he wasn't to be messed with. He was mad they'd dragged his best friend into this, even if Larry was mostly oblivious, it had caused an argument that had left him feeling guilty and... wrong.

He sighed, opening the old chat to be greeted by all the messages he hadn't bothered to read, he was surprised to see some of them seemed concerned. There were a few messages about the coven, but one, in particular, caught his eye.

From: asshole

They're like, really pissed, you know? I have no idea why, the bitch's like obsessed with you, I swear. They wouldn't do this usually.

[Received May 18th]

This coven was... different. More cult-like. They were unofficial, which meant they weren't in communication with covens in other areas, they also didn't have many rules in the way of not using magic to curse people, which is why Sally had never liked it.

To: asshole

I don't want to deal with this shit, why do you feel a need to bring Larry into this?

[Sent 6:36 AM]

He closed his phone, dropping it at his side to bring his hands to his bare face, flinching at the feeling. He hated that touching his face felt so foreign, he hated how sensitive the scarred skin was, and how he hadn't felt the sun on his face in as long as he could remember.

He stayed like that for a while, ignoring the buzzing of his phone until a loud knock at his bedroom door startled him back to reality.

"Uh, Sal? Are you awake?" It was his dad, he sounded tired, it made sense, he'd gotten home after Sal had, he was also most likely hungover.

"Yeah, what do you need?" He dropped his hands from his face when the door opened, turning to face his father who looked like he'd gotten ready in a hurry. It wasn't hard to notice the brief look of shock on Henry's face, even after all these years he still wasn't used to the look of his son's face, but they both ignored it like they always did.

"I'm heading out to work, I'll be home late. Do you want money for a pizza or are you going to a friend's for dinner?"

"Eating pizza at home alone is sad, Lisa already expects me down there anyway." Sometimes he thought he must be a bother to her, most of his time was spent in the basement apartment, though he tried not to be invasive. He only hung out with Larry when his friend asked him to, to not seem annoying, yet they still ended up together pretty much every day.

"Well, thank her for me." Why did their interactions have to be so awkward? They never made eye contact and Henry always seemed like he'd been forced to have the conversation and Sal hated it, he couldn't remember when they'd last acted like family. Even his father's concern seemed like an act.

"Will do... Bye, dad."

Henry only nodded with a weak smile before leaving, not completely closing the bedroom door, allowing Gizmo to make his way in. The ginger cat meowed lazily at his owner, leaping onto a shelf, knocking random things over in order to curl up in their place.

Sal didn't care, leaving whatever fell on the carpet and opting to just check his phone, he had three new messages, two from Kaylen and one from Ash. He opened the message from his friend first, he felt like he hadn't seen her in forever.

From: Art Nerd

I expected you to text every day, Fisher. I'm disappointed :(

[Received 6:53 AM]

The message made him smile, Ash had gone away somewhere, he couldn't remember, for the majority of the summer, visiting family or something of the sort. Todd was also gone for the summer, he was working at this science camp where he basically had to deal with bratty 5th graders for minimum wage the whole time, what sucked is he even had to stay weekends, because it would take too much time to drive back and forth.

To: Art Nerd

Sorry, I've been busy.

[Sent 7:04 AM]

He went to leave the chat, not expected the reply to be so quick. He assumed the girl was laying bored in bed, she was in a different time zone at the moment, he couldn't remember which one since he couldn't even remember where she's gone, so she had probably been awake a while waiting for an appropriate time to message her friends.

From: Art Nerd

It's only you and Larry there, right? How busy can ya be that you can't tell me you're alive from time to time?

[Received 7:05 AM]

To: Art Nerd

Well, Larry got his car stolen, so things haven't exactly been boring.

[Sent 7:05 AM]

From: Art Nerd

Yeah, he told me late last night.

[Received 7:06 AM]

From: Art Nerd

He said you knew the guy that took it?

[Received 7:06 AM]

Of course, Larry had told their other friends, he surely would have told Todd as well if the redhead had brought his phone to the camp, they told each other everything. Well, the rest of the group told each other everything, Sal was mostly honest but most of his life was a secret to them and he didn't know if they could tell or not. He wasn't sure how much Larry had told the girl, hopefully, he didn't tell much because Sal didn't feel like being interrogated so early in the morning

To: Art Nerd

I recognized him, it's not a big deal. When are you guys getting back me and Larry are gonna get sick of each other soon.

[Sent 7:08 AM]

From: Art Nerd

I'm only here one more week but I think Todd's camp thing runs until the end of summer :(((((

[Received 7:09 AM]

Sal sighed for what felt like the hundredth time just that morning, he sighed too much, he needed to change that. Another buzz from his phone reminded him that he had messages from Kaylen, so he went to the chat to read the messages.

From: asshole

Didn't know it was your boyfriend's car, just following orders sweetheart.

[Received 6:59 AM]

From: asshole

I didn't really want to, ya know, but I owe them and you've been kind of an ass lately.

[Received 7:00 AM]

From: asshole

I could get you on their good side again if you actually do what I say this time.

[Received 7:10 AM]

Fuck him, everything about him annoys Sal now, he didn't know how he used to be able to actually hang out with him.

To: asshole

Larry's not my boyfriend, but he doesn't know about all this shit and doesn't need to know. Tell those assholes to leave me and my friends alone or they'll regret it.

[Sent 7:11 AM]

After the text went through he turned off his phone, throwing it on top of his dresser less than gently. It was early and he was bored, the worst combination as it meant Larry surely wouldn't be awake and everything was weirdly quiet alone. If he fell asleep one of two things would happen, one is he'd sleep too long and not be able to sleep that night and mess up his already wack sleeping schedule, the other is he'd wake up from a nightmare and start his day having to be calmed down like a child. Neither sounded like a good option.

"Gizmo, c'mere." The cat lazily lifted his head, looking annoyed. The orange fluff ball seemed to roll his eyes before hopping off the shelf and making his way over to his owner, rubbing his body against the bluenette's legs with a 'mrow.'

"Don't try and charm me." Nevertheless, he scratched under the cat's chin, enjoying the sound of his purring. "What should we do until Larry calls?"

Some might think it was stupid to ask a cat questions like this, but Gizmo wasn't like any other house cat, though his reply at the moment seemed like it. The orange cat simply yawned, pacing in a circle before curling up on top of Sal's hand to sleep.

The bluenette rolled his eyes, going to the living room to watch crappy TV for a few hours.

He must've fallen asleep at some point, because he jumped up suddenly, awoken by the knocking at the door, loud enough to be too much but not that it was threatening. Gizmo stood irritated on Sal's stomach, hissing at the door before dashing away into the bluenette's room.

"Yo, Sal! I'm bored!" It was Larry, of course, no one else he knew would come pounding at his front door instead of just calling him or assuming he was busy. He was surprised the brunette hadn't just walked in, his dad must've locked the door on his way out.

"Calm your tits." Shouting right after waking up resulted in his voice cracking annoyingly but he didn't care, tiredly making his way to the door. His mind still felt numb, at least he hadn't had a nightmare.

"You didn't answer my ca— oh." The brunette spoke as the door opened, stopping when he made eye contact with his friend. Sal was confused, Larry seemed to be looking over his face... curiously, maybe. Was there something on his prosthetic? Or...

"Shit." Sal quickly turned, lifting his shirt up to cover his bare face quickly, how had he just forgotten, he'd never done that before. He probably freaked Larry out, the brunette was probably gonna leave now, he was gonna hate him. Fuck, why was he so stupid.

He didn't even realize he started tearing up until Larry's hand was on his shoulder and he let out something like a sob.

"Ah, fuck, dude I'm sorry for looking, I— fuck, don't cry, Sal." Now he's gone and made Larry feel guilty, shit. Why couldn't he stop crying, he's such a screw-up, Larry's never gonna wanna be around him again, he's only still here because he feels bad. "Are you worried I don't like how you look? Cuz I think you look cool as fuck, I swear." Sometimes it was like Larry could read people better than he could.

Sal looked up to Larry, the brunette wasn't looking away, he didn't look disgusted at all, he just looked normal. He was looking down at the blunette the same as he did when he was wearing the prosthetic. He didn't seem like he felt obligated to be there and play nice.

Sally pretty much fell into Larry, wrapping his arms around the brunette as he stumbled back a bit. He was trying not to sob, he was trying not to cry and this helped. He barely registered Larry laughing slightly at his childish actions, or how the other's hand ran through his hair which was down for once, he just knew he felt better.

"Don't leave." Larry laughed again, making Sal roll his eyes even if it's not seen.

"I wasn't planning on it, I'm bored and you have to entertain me."


	7. Scented Candles

Larry wanted to kiss his best I friend. It's not weird. Right? He was straight, he just wanted to kiss him in a friend way, that's normal. Totally. It was probably just the anticipation of seeing his face that made Larry wanna kiss him when he finally did, that makes sense, that's gotta be the reason. It's not like seeing the bluenette's face had confirmed he'd look better in his date's chocolate lipstick and that the boy was totally better than any girl the brunette had met before.

He wasn't pretty like the girls, he was just attractive overall, in a way Larry couldn't describe since he could tell Sal wasn't the kind of good looking everyone liked and every girl on the dates tried to be. He wouldn't say he imagined worse, because he didn't, he never really spent time thinking up what was under the mask, Sally's face was always the prosthetic in Larry's mind. Maybe sometimes he'd look up when the other was eating and see a few scars and his mind would try and fill in the rest, but that didn't compare to exactly what he saw.

He felt almost mad at the world because Sal had to live like this, covering up his own face all the time because of what a stupid dog did, he didn't deserve that.

Sal wasn't crying anymore, he didn't think, but the boy wasn't moving away. Not that Larry was complaining, really. He enjoyed this, not in a gay way, no like a friendly way. It's friendly to want to hold your friend and comfort him and kiss his head, but he kinda felt like he was gonna fall over just standing there with Sal leaning against him.

"Do you want me to go get your mask?" Sal probably just wanted to hide his face, he figured. He didn't expect his friend to instantly be fine with showing his face; if he was ever gonna be fine with it.

"Prosthetic. No, it's fine. It's still broken anyway." The boy pulled away, looking down at his feet so his hair fell over his face. Larry brought his arms back to his sides, swinging them slightly while glancing around. The apartment was cleaner now than last night, he figured Henry must have tidied up that morning, but it still didn't have a homely value to it, at least in Larry's opinion. In his apartment, there's always at least one scented candle burning, and it feels warm, even in the winter. The carpet is so worn down from the years and there are a few stains that come as a side effect of raising a child without hardwood. The pillows on the couch don't match and there's a dip in the armchair where Larry throws his backpack every day. The counter has a chip in the corner from when the brunette, a few years back, had thought it'd be a good idea to just throw a coffee mug when he got mad.

The fact is that anyone could tell that people live there and had lived there. In Sal's apartment, you could tell someone had been in there and you could tell a cat was there but it didn't feel like anyone's home. The furniture was bland and old but without any 'home-ly' stains or anything, just dust and dirt, any mess seemed more fitting to be a mess you'd see maybe in the emptiness after a concert ended. There were no pictures on the walls, there hadn't been any picture-worthy moments and any old ones saddened Henry too much to have hung up. Everything but Sal's room felt like the embodiment of 'alive but not living.'

"Do ya think your dad will... get better?" He spoke before he realizied he'd even opened his mouth. He'd thought the question a lot before, he'd asked it before, he expected the same answer as always.

"No, he doesn't want to... Maybe some movie-like event will happen that'll get him to want to." Gizmo suddenly sprinted forward, winding around Sal's legs and meowing annoyingly. He reminded Larry of a herding dog trying to herd Sal away. The cat hated Larry, everyone knew that, but he never really did this, he mostly just hid away from the brunette.

"The hell is he doing?" Larry bent down closer to the cat, being greeted by a hiss, but he didn't have to dodge any claws so this was the friendliest the orange fluff ball had ever been to him. Gizmo started pawing at Sal's leg until the bluenette also bent down.

"I don't know." The shorter teen picked the cat up, only for him to sqiurm out of his owner's grip and pad back and forth between the teens and the bathroom door. "He's just being weird."

Despite Sal's dismissal of the behavior, Larry could still see he had some lingering worry. Not only did Larry know Sal well enough to recognize his mannerisms and posture, but now seeing his face it was much easy to tell what the other was feeling. Before, it was the bluenette's eyes that gave him away, the taller teen could understand how he was feeling with just one look into their blue-ness. But now, with Sal's mask off, Larry could see the other never really learnt to keep a poker face.

The other glanced back at the brunette for a moment before taking large strides to get to the bathroom. The door had been open, the lights off, and Sal stiffened in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Larry never really saw his friend freeze up like he was now, only when there was a dog or if Travis made a particularly insensitive comment. But before he could question it Sal abruptly shut the door and turned back to face the brunette.

"You good?" Almost if by instinct, Larry's hand was on the side of Sal's face, pushing stray strands of hair behind his pale ear. What was he doing? He was being weird, he'd never done stuff like this before so why was it so natural for him now. He needed to stop acting without thinking, he was gonna make his friends think he was a freak. He pulled back his hand only after a moment, giving a somewhat nervous smile in return to the other's questioning stare. Good going, genius, he thinks you're a weirdo.

"I'm fine, there's bugs." The other's hand reached up to where the brunette's hand had been and Larry couldn't help but notice the light blush the shorter teen was sporting. It only lasted for a moment before Sal seemed to snap back to his normal self, smiling brightly. "Let's go do something, I hate staying in all day." Larry knew that was a lie, but Sal clearly didn't wanna stay here so he wasn't going to argue.

"What do you wanna do?" He walked over to the kitchen, casually rummaging through the cabinets, like usual, he was always hungry.

"I... don't know." He heard Sal's quick footsteps follow him and saw the teen hop onto the counter out of the corner of his eye.

"Of course." He mumbled, opening a few more cabinets before shutting them with a sigh. "God, you only have nasty vegan shit." The other stuck out his tongue at the brunette as he went to lean against the wall.

"Hmm." Sal sucked in a a breath, biting his lip while thinking. It was weird for Larry to see all his expressions, he almost felt like he was being invasive. "Can you take me to a gay bar?" His crooked smile was hot... He shouldn't be focusing on that.

"You're 16, Sal." The bluenette rolled his eyes, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged on the counter. Larry took a step forward, raising his eyebrows in a sort of accusatory way.

"Yeah, but," He drew out the vowels in the words, leaning forward with a mock pleading look. "It's so fun and they're all too drunk to notice anything but your ass!" Larry could tell he was making a disappointed face any parent would be proud of by the falter in Sal's actions. "But I don't actually wanna go right now I'm only making a joke because you know now." The blunette spoke quickly, sitting up straight again while Larry took more steps forward.

"Ignoring that you've apparently been to one before, why didn't you tell me sooner? Aren't we best friends or something?" He didn't mean to sound so accusatory, it wasn't his place to be mad or sad, he knew that, but he couldn't help feeling like he hadn't been approachable enough.

"What, that I'm gay?"

"Well, yeah, unless there's other secrets you're keeping from me." Would Sal keep secrets from him, what did he really know about his friend? If Sal has been dating that blonde dude that must mean other people knew before Larry, did he do something?

Sal bit his lip, making eye contact for a moment, something Larry knew was uncommon. He couldn't tell if the bluenette was acting suspicious or ashamed of keeping the secret. "I didn't want things to be weird or anything."

"Yeah, because I'd be fine with Todd and his mega homo-ass but as soon as you came out I'd, what, join Travis in beating you up?" He switched to a more defensive demeanor faster than he could realize, his mind was running so fast he couldn't help but try and defend himself for nothing.

"No, not that." He sighed, looking off at nothing in the apartment. "Todd's your friend, yeah, but he's not at your house every night and you've known each other for a lot longer than I've been here." The bluenette had that recognizable blank look in his eyes, he must've been thinking about this before. Larry couldn't help to think maybe Todd and Ash already knew, that he was the only unknowing one.

"You're afraid I'd think you liked me just because you like dudes and I'm so clearly the most desirable dude?" He gave a joking smirk, trying to just push all his thoughts aside for now.

Sal smiled, which made Larry's heart flutter somewhat as he returned the grin. "Yeah, I guess. I got a rule against liking my friends, though."

"And what's that rule, exactly?" He casually took a step closer to the counter the other was sitting cross-legged on, resting his palms on the cold faux granite.

"To not like them." Sal looked into his eyes once again, it was strange but not unlikeable.

"Could you ever break that rule?" Did he sound quieter, he couldn't tell, those blue eyes were kinda distracting.

"Would I need to?"

"Hmm." Larry just hummed in response, was he flirting? He couldn't tell, he wasn't really trying to, did Sal think he was flirting? They were definitely closer at the moment, or he was just overthinking things. It's only friendly banter, nothing more or less. Friends, two guy friends, two dudes that were friends, two single bros hanging out... Was Sal single?

That last thought was kinda gay.

Sal quickly averted his eyes and Larry blinked quickly, feeling a little hazy all of a sudden.

"Um—uh, did you, maybe, want to go down to my apartment? Mom found this vegetarian recipe that she's excited to make for you so she's at the store and we'll have the place to ourselves for a little." Why was he nervous? He shouldn't be, he invited Sal to his house every day so why would he be nervous. God, what was so wrong with him lately?

Sal smiled, nodding happily but all Larry could focus on was the thought of kissing his best friend.


	8. EyeContact

Sal hadn't meant to do it, it just happened. Okay, maybe he did want to but he wasn't going to. Eye contact is just... tricky with him.

When he makes eye contact he can mess with the person's head.

He can somewhat read their mind, not like a book, he can't explain it exactly. He can 'speak' in their heads, though he's not sure exactly how to do that. Lastly, he can control them, make them do simple actions.

He needs eye contact to do all these, so he avoids it.

It'd been a few hours since he unintentionally looked into Larry's head, and called his thoughts gay, and he can't stop thinking about it. At least he hadn't said it out loud, but how freaky must it be to suddenly hear your friend's voice in your head?

He'd convinced himself that he'd made Larry flirt with him, even though he knew he had to speak it to get someone to do something, but surely Larry didn't do it on his own accord, especially with how confused he was about his actions. Sal figured he must be getting more powerful... somehow. No witch around had the same ability and none had mentioned knowing much about it, so he wasn't sure how most things worked, maybe he could just get more powerful with time.

This is supposed to be the shit his mother would teach him about, but unfortunately Sal seems to have a knack for pissing off other witches so that is no longer a possibility.

"Hey, dude! Snap out of it." Larry snapped his fingers in front of the bluenette's face, causing him to jump back, off the bean bag and onto the hard floor with a thud.

"Fuck— that felt like I broke my ass." He brought a hand to his lower back, feeling a dull pain from the collision.

"You were in your head, totally blocking me out and shit." He hated the look Larry had in his eyes. It made him feel guilty, which only made him irritated, he had no reason to feel guilty. Larry was worried about nothing, everyone was worried about him for nothing. He'd tell them he was fine but they always pried.

"Don't get frantic, I didn't skip a pill or anything." The irritation was evident in his voice, he must sound like an asshole.

"I never said—"

"You were thinking it." Sal pushed himself off the ground with a huff. He subconsciously chewed on his already dangerously short nails, cringing at the feeling of chipped nail polish on his tongue mixed with the slight tang of blood.

"Well I'm sorry I get worried about my best friend, you're not known to be very responsible!" He didn't have to look to know Larry was glaring. There was a shuffling as the brunette went to stand as well.

"Fuck off, I'm almost an adult!" The shorter took a step back, arms falling to his sides. God, their relationship was fucked, they fought too much. Neither wanted to address it, simply hoping the other would bring it up instead. "...If something were wrong I'd know and tell you, okay?"

Larry huffed, clearly not convinced but not willing to push it anymore. "Okay, fine."

There was a moment of silence where Sal began biting his nails again, cursing lowly at the shooting pain when he bit too far.

"It's just... You can't blame me for being worried about you sometimes, especially with the last few days. When you act strangely like this I get reminded of a few months ago and now knowing that blonde guy exists just makes me more worried because there's obviously stuff I still don't know." He looked up and made brief eye contact with Sal, I'm making him upset... "You know you can tell me anything, I'm not just saying that, I mean it... Really."

"Yeah, dude, I know. I'm fine, I promise there's nothing more I'm keeping from you. I was trying to forget about Kaylen so I never thought to mention him at all, I didn't want to rant about his total asshole-ness to you when you'd fight Travis just for staring." The bluenette joked, earning a grin from his friend.

"Damn right!" He have a toothy grin, following a chuckle. He was cute, especially when he was goofey and joking like this. Sal wished it was like this more, like when they first met, but now their friendship was just keeping each other from making stupid decisions. "But you could totally vent about your crummy relationships with me any day, I'll scare all your boyfriends into treating you right."

"Aw, you're like a dad in the movies." Larry made a face of mock disgust, shaking his head slightly, making Sal laugh.

"Nah, more like an older brother." Larry crossed his arms after thinking, seeming happy with the title.

"Same principal."

"Except I'm not old." Sal just rolled his eye, shoving Larry's shoulder playfully.

"Whatever, you're ancient." Larry laughed while bringing a hand to his chest, trying to look hurt though his laughter.

"I'm only like 9 months older."

"And I'm old as hell, it's a wonder I'm still alive." Sal lightly shoved Larry again, only to have his friend grab him to pull the shorter teen to his side.

"Shut up." The brunette wrapped an arm around his friend, holding him still while ruffling his blue hair, which was uncharacteristically untamed and down.

"You're a dork!" Sal shook the hair from his eyes to look up at the other, who held him in an inescapable grip. The two stared at each other as their laughter died down and Sally became more aware of his bare face and their close proximity. Larry's eyes were looking over his scarred face and he felt his cheeks heat up.

He didn't feel as uncomfortable as he usually did without his prosthetic, he had almost forgotten that he wasn't wearing it. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Larry poked his cheek and laughed, making his face heat up more.

"You flustered, dude?" Sal looked away, puffing out his cheeks and pouting like a child. He would do that under his mask so much that he didn't realize how childish it must look until Larry laughed again.

"No!" He awkwardly crossed his arms over his chest while still in his friends unfaltering hold.

"I understand why, I'm just too perfect." Sal stuck out his tongue while his friend smirked to emphasis his point. If he was honest, he thought Larry was attractive. Like, the guy was really hot.

But he'd never say that, even if Larry thought the same about him they couldn't possibly be together or anything, it'd never work out. Heck, their friendship comes close to collapsing so many times it's shocking it hasn't completely shattered into a thousand, unfixable pieces.

He locked eyes with Larry for a second and he swore he saw the brunette blush somewhat. The taller teen's grip loosened just long enough for Sal to slip away with a triumphant yelp.

"Ha!" He jumped back with a playful laugh. "I escaped!"

The brunette just rolled his eyes with a smile.


	9. Smokeinthewoods

-Larry shouted in surprise as he was basically tackled, attracting the attention of the parents in the park, probably annoyed a couple of teenagers were making a commotion where their brats were trying to play.

"I missed you guys!" Ashley laughed, pulling away from Larry to pull Sal into a similar bone crushing hug. The blunette gave a reply that was too muffled to understand, unable to hug the girl back because of how she trapped his arms to his side.

"You didn't have to sneak attack me." Larry grumbled, Larry only getting laughter as a response from the other two.

"You should've been paying more attention, then." Ash stuck out her tongue, releasing Sal from her grip but keeping an arm around his shoulder. She had returned home late the night before and the three had agreed to meet up at the park, not accounting for the fact that it was late August and children

tend to enjoy playing in the sun.

"We were distracted by a shitty 13-year-old." Sal rolled his eyes gesturing in the direction of a couple of older kids near the edge of the woods, insulting each other and laughing loudly.

"I'll kick his ass!" Larry glared in their direction, Sal shoving his shoulder as mock scolding.

"You can't beat up a child." Ashley laughed, rolling her eyes at the two. Larry could tell she also found the pre-teens annoying, because everyone found them annoying.

"Says who, fucking watch me." He took a step forward like he was gonna walk up to them, laughing when Sally grabbed his arm to keep him from moving. Sal had a flash of anxiety in his eyes, Larry knew the blunette could tell it was a joke, but that didn't stop his brain from panicking. Larry laughed, ruffling his friend's hair. "Oh, you've stopped me!"

His friend stopped his clinging and he casually slipped his arm around the shorter boy's shoulder, basically replacing Ashley who Sal had jumped away from to grab Larry.

"Oh, so it's gonna be that way?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

Sal shrugged and leaned against Larry, the boy was taller than Ash so the two friends fit more comfortably and it was easy to tell. Larry stuck his tongue out at the girl.

"Fine, have your boyfriend." She simply rolled her eyes, shoving her hands into her pants pockets as she took a few steps down the path, towards a trail through the forest. It was mostly away from the children and there was a turn you could take about a quarter down the path that led to a more covered place teenagers went to smoke at and shove each other into the stream.

"Pft, we're just two dudes being straight." Sal shouted after the girl, dashing to keep up with her. Larry not having to because he was already faster walking, having long legs had its advantages.

"As if." Ashley rolled her eyes dramatically, stepping off the path to pick up a dirtied glass bottle left in the bushes.

"My straight and his gay equal out so it's the limbo of sexuality. Nothing counts." Larry explained this as if it was basic science and Sal nodded with a shrug.

"Oh so he finally told you he likes it up the ass?" Ashley questioned the taller teen, turning to point at Larry with the bottle but laughing at how red Sal's ears got at her words instead.

"So you did know already! Am I really the last one you told?" He pouted when Sal just shrugged, he wasn't hurt by it or anything he just wondered if he did something that made Sal not want to tell him.

"He never had to tell me, I'm just not oblivious! He drools over every hot guy he sees." The girl ran ahead on the trail, veering off towards the stream, the other two following at a slower pace.

"I kinda gave hints about it all the time, I'm bad at actually saying it." The twigs crunched beneath their feet, the sound of children from the park becoming harder the hear the further they walked.

"I always thought you were only jOking!" His friends predictably laughed at his voice cracking, so he flipped them off. "I joke like that but I'm not gay."

"If you're so straight why do you turn down every girl that tries to date you?" Ash questioned as they all jumped down a short ledge to the bank of the stream, the ground covered in crushed beer cans and old cigarettes. The stream was small and slow moving, dried up from the summer heat. Larry could tell Sal didn't like all the litter around, probably looking disgusted under his prosthetic, usually Larry thought it was annoying when people preached about saving the earth but Sal's care for nature was cute to him.

"Cuz they're not my time, simple!" He dropped onto the roots of a tree, which the stream had once stripped the dirt from. Ash threw the bottle she'd picked up at a tree nearby, cursing as it didn't even crack but fall to the ground with a thump.

"Yeah, cuz you're type includes being short and having blue pigtails." Sal made an almost choking sound, his ears turning bright red. Ashley just ignored the boy and his coughing, focusing on Larry's reaction to her words.

"Ugh, shush! Your weird art is corrupting your mind!" Larry rolled his eyes, grabbing Sal and pulling him to sit down next to him, but he ended up more in the brunette's lap. Neither seemed bothered by the position, Sal pulling a box of cigarettes out from his pocket.

"Oh, gimme one!" Ash preferred to sit cross legged on the ground, facing the two with her back to the string.

"Only nice people get one!" Larry stuck his tongue out as his friend handed him a cigarette, Ash mimicking him.

"We're sharing, if I go in to buy a pack too often they might actually ID me."

"Psh, I'm not sharing with you nerds, have fun sharing salvia!" The girl kicked off her shoes, turning to put her feet in what little stream there was while the two boys passed the cigarette between the two of them like the delinquents they were.

Sal had completely taken off his prosthetic with Ashley turned away and Larry enjoyed that he could watch his friend's face as he smoked. It was weird he knew, but the bluenette was attractive smoking, hell, Larry would probably think anything he did was attractive. He must look pretty gay, staring at another guy's lips like he was, but they were only friends. You can find your friend attractive in a friendly way, right. For sure, it's not gay, just friendly!

"Are you gonna say goodbye or just stare at Sal like a creep?" Fuck, he hadn't realized how long he had been staring. Sal now had his prosthetic back on and was looking at Larry with an amused look in his eyes. Ashley stood above them, her shoes back on. "I've apparently got to 'be home immediately!'" She waved her phone, Larry assuming she'd gotten a text.

"Oh, then, bye then." Larry shrugged, dragging his gaze away from his friend's blue eyes.

The brunette rolled her eyes, leaning down to tightly hug Sal, pressing a kiss to his prosthetic's cheek. "Love you, bye!" She jumped toward the trail and flipped off Larry. "You too, fucker! Y'all better call tonight!"

Sal laughed as the girl ran off towards the park again, leaning against his remaining brunette friend. Larry smiled, slipping his arm around the other's shoulder as he slipped off his prosthetic. "Uh, hey dude."

"Yeah?"

"What is your type exactly?"

Larry was slightly shocked at the question, glancing down at the blunette who looked slightly flustered before just staring out across the stream. "Um, I don't actually know..?"

"Well, who do you really like? Any girl peak you wanna be around and stuff?" Sal messed with the sleeve of Larry's jacket, his voice quiet with the sounds of the woods.

"I mean, I'd rather be hanging out with you than any girl..."

—


	10. MilkCartonPortraits

"Hey, is Sal with you?" Larry pretty much shouted into the phone as soon as Ashley answered. He was pacing nervously around his room, the door in the back unlocked and walkie-talkie set to max volume. Why was he so worried? Because Sal had said goodnight too early the night before, and couldn't be found today. This wouldn't be much cause for concern for others but Larry knew Sally too well to ignore a change in his schedule.

"No, he doesn't come to my place because of the dogs." As if on cue, Ashley's beloved pets started a chorus of barking from somewhere else in her house, their distant howling not ceasing even after she shouted at them. "He doesn't even call me because of them."

"Fuck!" The brunette grabbed roughly at his hair, the faint pain it caused in his scalp helping to calm his troubled thoughts.

"Chill, he doesn't need to tell you where he is all the time."

"I just, I like to know he's okay and his dad said he doesn't know where he went, he never texted or called or anything and he's just gone and I don't know where he is or when he's going to be back." His voice was higher than usual, what did Ashley know, she didn't understand. No one could understand, he knew Sal better than anyone, he had every right to be concerned.

"Calm down, he's not your kid, he doesn't have to check in with you." The girl sounded quite exasperated by the conversation, she was obviously stressed, Larry could only guess she hadn't done any summer work over the vacation.

"But—"

"After twenty four hours, then you can be worried, alright. I gotta go, don't panic about this." Her tone softened a bit before she hung up, but it did nothing to calm Larry's nerves, he'd been trying to get a hold of Sal all day now, with no answer.

With a noise that could only be described as vocalized stress, he threw his phone across the room, if landing with a quiet thump on one of the beanbags. Larry's pacing didn't cease, nor did his hands stop pulling on his hair, he knew he was overreacting but he subconsciously felt like he needed to make up for all the pervious times he'd under reacted.

He didn't know what he'd do if he lost his Sally, anyone would hate to lose their best friend, but most never actually have to face that. Larry's situation was different, due to Sal's nature it felt like he'd come close to losing him far too many times than the average person and not just because the shorter teenager was rather clumsy. Last year in particular was the main fuel of his current stress.

Sal would be gone far more often, he'd miss school and he'd be unreachable for days even. When he did talk to his friends he was either too quiet or strangely cryptic, sometimes Larry would get late night calls from the boy which consisted of seemingly random rants that were at times frightening. But back then Larry didn't care too much, he'd ask if the other was okay but trusted that his friend would tell him if anything was really wrong, he wonders if he'd worried a bit more if he could've stopped Sal from getting hurt, even if his accident was pretty much necessary for people to realize something bigger was wrong.

Larry stopped pacing to pick up his phone again, shakily dialing Sal's contact one more time. He was on the third ring when he heard the click followed but the creak of the back door opening. The faint orange light of late day poured in briefly as a slightly messy looking Sal stepped into the room. He wore an old oversized shirt that slipped off his shoulders and sweat pants, he didn't have shoes, only socks which were by now covered in dirt. His hair wasn't in pigtails, but one hastily made pony tail with loose hair framing his face, which wasn't covered by the prosthetic, the plastic mask held loosely in the blunette's hands.

Larry shut his phone as he stepped quickly toward his friend, worried that he'd run off again unless he was stopped. Sal looked confused at the brunette, as if he hadn't just disappeared all day without a trace.

Without saying a word Larry looked over his friend for any injuries, meeting his confused gaze and returning it with an angry one.

"What the fuck, man?"

"Hmm?" Sal hummed nonchalantly, walking past Larry to toss his prosthetic on top of the other's bed, his expression had changed from confused to more blank, not a sad blank expression but one of complete indifference.

"Did you even bring your phone?" Larry hadn't seen it in the other's house when he went looking for him, but if he'd brought it he surely would have at least looked at the many messages that Larry had sent.

"Dropped it." Sal didn't sit down, but stood next to the bed, facing away from his friend though Larry could assume he expression hadn't changed.

"What do you mean dropped it?" He was getting angrier, something had to be wrong but Sal wasn't acting distressed, he wanted the other to come to him and recount all his problems, he wanted to fix everything wrong with Sal's life but he couldn't do that when the blunette acted like this.

"It's in the lake."

"Sal what the fuck! I can't reach you all day and your phone's in the lake?! You're in your pajamas, your dad said you left before he got up, you'de not even wearing fucking shoes and you just show up here like it's no big deal." Larry snapped, pacing around the room as he spoke, continuing to pull at his hair.

"I had stuff." The shorter teen didn't even turn towards him, he was messing with the hem of his shirt absently.

"No, that's not a good enough answer!" Larry grabbed Sal's shoulder to turn his friend to face him, they locked eyes for a second before the blunette stepped forward and briefly pressed his lips against Larry's in a messy kiss, having the same indifferent expression when he stepped back. "What the hell?"

"You didn't like it?" Sal tipped his head to the side like a dog, averting his eyes to the ground. "I've kinda wanted to do that a while."

"I'm— ... Sal, what's wrong?" Larry's tone softened, he was more worried now, less angry, but this seemed to cause Sal to snap back into the moment.

"I'm fine!" His head snapped up to almost glare, but their eyes did not meet, like what normally happens. His tone was defensive, but his voice was more high pitched than usual.

"You're not." His friend seemed to have snapped back to normal, but wasn't acknowledging any of the weird things he'd just done.

"Fuck off!" Sal turned away again, crossing his arms this time and glaring off at nothing. Larry stayed silent, looking at the other with a confused, yet worried expression. After a few moments Sal spoke up again in a quieter tone. "Sorry."

"For what part, exactly?" He wasn't quite sure what prompted him to ask this, he assumed he just wanted to know if Sal would admit to his strange behavior.

"Just— you know. I'm sorry I kissed you, I'm not supposed to, I just." He continued to trip over his words even when Larry turned his body towards his own, placing a hand on the back of the shorter boy's neck before connecting their lips in a quick chaste kiss.

"Sorry." The brunette mumbled with a slight smile. This wasn't gay, he didn't like Sal like that, and Sal didn't like him like that. They were just close, just friends, this was comfort, he was comforting his friend, just like a hug, right? The smile the blunette gave in return confirmed to him that this was nothing more than a friendly gesture between good friends.

Their relationship was so fucked up.


	11. MollyRingwaldMovieNight

Sal laid across the floor with his head in his friend's lap, not really reading the book he held above his head but still staring at the one-page nonetheless. Larry sat against the bed, listening to the music which was playing at what he considered a low volume in the bedroom. The good part about living in the lone basement apartment was he didn't have to worry about getting noise complaints and only had to be quiet when his mother was home sleeping, that's one of the reasons Sal preferred to hang out in Larry's room rather than his own.

They were waiting for their friends to arrive, Todd had returned from his nerd camp and he'd be over after having some 'alone time' with Neil, he phrased it like a parent trying to kick his kids out of the house for a while. Ashley would also show up soon, her parents had allowed her to go out for more than just an hour, but they did think she was heading to some girl's house instead, it was only a small lie.

Sal felt a tug on his bangs, looking past the book, up at Larry, smiling despite wearing his prosthetic. He didn't wanna take it off when he knew their other friends could walk in at any moment. "Do you need anything?"

"Nah, just really fucking bored." The brunette complained, slumping back against the bed and tugging at the hair tie that kept Sal's pigtails together. "Is there a reason you grew your hair this long?"

"Um, not really. I didn't cut it when I stayed in the hospital as a kid and I just continued not cutting it after. Have we not had this conversation before?" Sal dropped the book to the floor, reaching up to poke the other's nose to punctuate his words.

"I dunno, maybe I'd remember if you had a less boring answer. Make something up, give your hair an epic backstory." The brunette stopped messing his his friends hair to instead grab his hand in both of his own, holding it close to his face almost as if he was speaking into it. Sal could feel his face heat up a bit, he couldn't tell if they were more touchy than before or if they'd always been this physically affectionate, maybe he was just more aware of it? Either way, having his hand held by the taller teen made his thoughts focus on nothing other than the touching skin.

"Fine, okay, I battled a mythical forest spirit that cursed me with even bangs and ever-growing hair that cannot be cut. How's that sound?" Larry dropped the blunette's hand to half sigh-half laugh and Sal instantly didn't know what to do with his hand, so he resolved to just messing with Larry's hair as he couldn't get rid the recent memory of the brunette messing with his bangs. Larry's hair felt much different than Sal's own, instead of frizzy and 'poofy' like his blue pigtails, Larry's was oily and tangled, which was oddly endearing to Sal.

"Not like a lame kid's story, that shit ain't real, do something like some awesome guitarist you met when you were little touched your hair and now you can never cut it again or risk being a disgrace."

Sal just rolled his eyes, letting out a fake laugh. "Too bad I can't steal your own epic story." He was being sarcastic, and rolled his eyes in response.

"Well, we can share it." Larry's thumb pressed under Sal's chin, at the edge of his prosthetic. Sal assumed the brunette was going to push up the prosthetic and he didn't stop him, he didn't really care anymore if it was only Larry looking.

"Todd, they're being gay!" The bedroom door was slammed open by their female friend, scaring Sal enough for him to quickly sit up, slamming his head into Larry's. Because of the prosethtic being slightly moved up it felt like he'd been punched in the chin and Larry seemed to grab his nose in pain.

"Thanks for that." Larry pulled his hand away, checking for blood, which luckily there was none, while Sal fixed the prosthetic. Ashley was buckled over from laughter and Todd looked equally as amused leaning on the door frame.

"Maybe don't get ready to fuck when your friends are on their way." Ashley sat herself on the floor next to Sal, hooking her arm around the boy's neck and pulling him into a tight side hug that he wasn't prepared for, as evident by the choked yelp he let out.

"We weren't doing anything, but because of you I might be concussed." Larry rubbed his forehead to exaggerate the pain, sticking out his tongue at the girl.

"That's a big word for you, Lar-bear." Ashley cooed in a condescending tone, Sal still trapped in her steal grip like some sort of doll. The two brunettes might act like they hate each other but they had been friends the longest out of the group and were really close, their arguments didn't mean anything. Though, according to Todd, they squabble more now that they can fight over Sal's attention.

"Fuck off!"

"Settle down, I just got done dealing with a bunch of bratty kids and I'd rather not listen to more bickering right now." Todd sat cross-legged across from the three, adjusting his glasses on his face. Sal was released from Ash's grip and he half pretended to gasp for air, the two brunettes childishly glaring at each other over Sal's head. "What's our plan tonight, I'm open to all illegal substances and R-rated movies because I've just lived with 5th graders for weeks and I almost went insane."

"If Todd's the one wanting drugs then we've lost our only voice of reason." Ash joked, usually Todd was the last to get on board for anything that could get them in needless trouble, even if he usually came around to drinking in the end.

"I'm down for anything." Sal leaned himself against Ashley as soon as his exaggerated fake gasping stopped. The girl made him less nervous than Larry now-a-days so he did it without even thinking.

"Well, wait. I say we pass on the intoxicators tonight." Larry chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck and only looking up from the ground after he'd finished speaking.

"What do you mean? You should be the one leading us down this path of darkness." The girl once again joked, trying to disperse the slight awkwardness that came with Larry's nervous statement.

Larry's eyes flickered over to Sal for a second, his nervous look not leaving, and the blunette couldn't help feeling a little offended by what he assumed his friend was thinking.

"I can smoke fine." Sal spoke defensively, weed didn't make him freak out, he'd had it before and he felt he knew himself enough to use it if he wanted.

"Well I'm thinking maybe you shouldn't tonight." Larry tried to speak gently but it did nothing as Sal just scoffed, the other two in the room feeling quite awkward witnessing the exchange.

"Why the hell shouldn't I?"

"You threw your fucking phone in the lake a week ago and you can't seem to tell me why!" Todd looked confused at Larry's statement, leaning forward to speak up but not being quick enough to get a word in.

"Oh, so you think I was on drugs or some—"

"It's not that big a deal, we all won't smoke or drink, because we all decided not to. Okay?" Ash cut Sal off, speaking strictly. She sounded like she was imitating a teacher and her trying to catch Sal's eye when waiting for his response only made her seem more like one.

He only pouted under the prosthetic, avoiding eye contact as always. The thing is he'd be totally fine without smoking, he wasn't an addict or anything, but he hated being treated like he shouldn't.

"You should catch us up on what happened when we were gone, any more mysterious shit?" Todd questioned, knowing the perfect distraction to get the group back to their typical antics.

"Not much went down but I learned Sal is terrified by Pastor Phelps." The tall brunette teased, referencing how the blunette had made the two cross the road to avoid walking past the man.

"I just— he unsettles me, I don't know why, I just hate him. I mean, he's not exactly a good person from what I've seen but I just never wanna get near him if I can avoid it."

"He's an asshole but it's not like he's the worst person you've seen, you were able to interact with Charley when you were getting him arrested." Ash looked somewhat puzzled, Sal's confidence(or stupidity) didn't seem to waver around much even if he was scared so she couldn't imagine a scenario where her friend fled.

"Pastor Phelps is just different." Sal shrugged, he could easily describe the man as reminding him of a dog, but he thought his friends would find that weird.

"Sal's ex stole my car." Larry spoke nonchalantly after a moment of silence, glancing between Todd and Ash to evaluate their surprised expressions.

"He's not really my ex!" It was true, him and Kaylen didn't technically have the title of boyfriends or anything, and they'd never gone on any dates. They simply enjoyed each other's company for a few months whenever one was feeling particularly lonely.

"Your ex?! You told me it was just someone you recognized!" Ash was very visibly shocked, Sal looking bashful as he stammered his response.

"Yeah, I didn't know you've ever dated anyone." Todd spoke up too, looking less shaken. He pushed his glasses up and the glare blocked his eyes from Sal's view, sometimes he wished the redhead was easier to read.

"We weren't exactly dating. We knew each other from this, uh, thing but he's a mega douche so." No way he could tell his friends he'd met this guy while he was part of the local coven, they would probably laugh it off as a joke or it would only cause worry.

"I hate his face." Larry looked angry, seemingly imagining the face that he spoke of.

"He's super annoying, he wouldn't stop texting me after I stopped talking to him and it got worse after we saw him." The blunette rolled his eyes, it felt kinda good being somewhat open about this relationship with his friends, just one less secret kept from them.

"Is that why you threw out your phone?" The redhead's question caught Sal a bit off guard, forgetting that Larry had mentioned the incident moments before.

"Oh—uh, yeah I guess. I don't know, I just did that."

"Was that when Larry called me saying you were missing." Sal glanced up at Larry's slightly guilty looking expression, of course he had called Ash then.

"I wasn't missing, I was running an errand." He spoke matter-of-factly, sitting up straight again. The blunette had decided to refer to the whole ordeal as a joke to not cause tension.

"You 'reappeared' barefoot." Larry raised an eye brow at him and Sal felt a little confused.

"I was not!"

"You were."

Sal blinked, looking down at his hands with a puzzled expression, he didn't remember being barefoot, he could've sworn he was dressed as he normally was. That whole day felt like a blur in his memory that ended with him in Larry's room and his phone at the bottom of a lake, something neither his friend nor his father were particularly thrilled about.

Ash clapped her hands together suddenly and Sal jumped, his head whipping up to look at his friend. "Let's watch 16 candles! I brought it!"

There was a rippled sigh from the boys in the room but they didn't protest when she excitedly put the tape in the player.


End file.
